


Sehnsucht

by JoyGaroz



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Romance, SasuSaku - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-10-17 01:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10583256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoyGaroz/pseuds/JoyGaroz
Summary: AU. She rather had him with her against his will, than never being able to see him again; this are her thoughts as she claims to be engaged to the ex rounin, Uchiha Sasuke, who is about to be sentenced to exhile.





	1. The Sentence

**Author's Note:**

> Sehnsucht (n.) “the inconsolable longing in the human heart for we know not what”; a high degree of intense, recurring, and often painful desire for something particularly if there’s no hope to attain the desired or when its attainment is uncertain, still far away.

She had been called to the Hokage’s office a week after they returned to Konoha. And both Naruto and she had been waiting in their best effort to be patient and not interrupt any meeting involving the kages. They had been worried sick to know what would happen to Sasuke now that he had returned with them.

It hurt to see him being treated as a criminal despite putting the best of this effort to help them retrieve their peace, but even they knew this was bound to happen before some negotiations were made. It didn’t make the sight of him being taken away by some Anbus any less painful, though. As soon as they stepped near their collegues, two pair of Anbus knocked him out, and the fact that Sasuke could have easily avoided such harsh treatment did nothing but make them feel hurt, because even the former avenger knew what would happen to him next, and he had the best intentions to cooperate, but their people did not know that.

And now, as she ran from roof to roof to reach her destination, she couldn’t help the fastening heartbeat and her rushing thoughts. Thinking of the worst case scenarios did little to calm her nerves, but she had long decided to keep her cool; being the former Hokage’s apprentice had taught her to know displaying emotions did little to gain the council’s vote.

However, a little part of her hoped Naruto will be loud enough to speak for both of them. No matter how impertinent the blond got, it was a given everyone held the loud ninja in their best regards.

She knocked once, and the door was sprung open, letting her sight appreciate Kakashi standing behind the Hokage’s desk. Sakura sensed Naruto at her right, and she took a few steps so they were at the same level. The door shut behind her.

“So as you had been told, I called you both here to let you know that his sentence has already been decided” their former sensei stated, voice even and collected. Sakura liked to think of that as a good sign, but soon remembered he was not standing before them as their teacher, but rather as the person who lead their village, so she gulped.

She needn’t to turn her eyes to notice Naruto was just as expectant as she was.

“He will be on observation indefinitely at Snow Village”.

While she stilled, Naruto rushed to his desk and slammed his palms on it.

“No!”

Worst case scenario: not being able to ever see him again.

What was the difference in being dead and being forced to live apart from everyone who cared for him for god knows how long?

“You have to keep him with us, Kakashi-sensei! Come on! You know how hard it has been for us to bring him back, to have him with us again!”

“I’m afraid there’s little we can do since his actions can only be considered to be endangering to the village”

“Are you even listening to yourself? Kakashi-sensei, you know as well as us that he has changed!”

“I can’t guarantee that with just one good action he did compared to all the chaos before that, believe me when I say this, Naruto, I too wish for him to stay, but not if I have no certainty that he has changed, the best we can do is have him under observation, and the safest place to do that is Snow”.

“You can’t!” this time, her voice finally came to sound and both men turned their heads in her direction. “You can’t get him apart because he’s already engaged to me”.

To say her former teammates were shocked was and understatement. Their faces were flabbergasted as they tried to figure out how and when had that happened, only to turn into a pained look into the blond’s cerulean eyes and a comprehensive one from the gray haired man.

“Of course I know how ridiculous this sounds, but he told me himself, he has the best intentions to keep me by his side. I’m one of his oldest comrades after all…” she paused with fondness and warmth oozing from her words “…so, If our commitment isn’t enough to keep him here with me then I’ll leave the village with him!” she finished, her eyes looking for her old mentor directly and determined.

Naruto had long since kept quiet, knowing how delicate yet serious this was to his best friend, and Kakashi could only frown in deep thought for a few seconds before sighing.

“You win, this has turned to be something to discuss with the rest of the council. I’m certain they won’t be pleased to know one of our best medic nins is leaving the village at such critique time as this in order to be by his side…” he concluded, his hand scratching his back.

Hope splayed in his former students faces, almost making them glee. He chuckled, the rascals.

“…however, be certain that there’ll be a thorough investigation concerning you two that you’ll have to pass to approve any final decision” Kakashi warned, referring to Sasuke and Sakura.

The medic quickly turned serious and nodded, accepting the consequences of her statement.

Soon after, both of the teens were dismissed, not before she requested permission to see him, which the copy ninja granted, to her unexpressed surprise.

He had been imprisoned and had his chakra sealed for safer measures, or at least that was what they had been told, but Sakura only frowned in disappointment, knowing how misjudged he was being, she could do just this much to look after him.

For the past days, she had been the one to look after his wounds, those few she was allowed to heal, like his sight and arm. It was a routine now, every evening she would come to the dungeon prison and take a look at his healing progress. Even if the display before her kept on being painful, it was a relief for her knowing he couldn’t see the concern in her face with the bandage covering his eyes, only when she needed to check on his sore eyes did she remove it.

Because of the silences always making her uncomfortable to continue her check-up, she made conversation even if just to herself. The sound of her voice was enough to fill her traitorous and painful thoughts.

Only that this evening there was so little she could do to avoid the thoughts running and sprinting in circles inside her mind, since it was going to affect not only him, but her.

By her third dejected sigh, it was the sound of his voice that brought her back to present.

“What are you sighing about?” his voice came out rasped, and sore; too strong and deep for her to not blush.

She gulped because she had been caught, and as she finished folding his arm, she bit her lip.

“I… believe I made something reckless” she started.

There was a short pause, but Sakura could tell she had his full attention now, since his face was had turned to her direction. Her brows furrowed in doubt, of course she needed to let him know, her statement was going to affect him too, but on the other hand, was she ready to see his reaction?

“The council decided your sentence; they were going to transfer you to Snow Village’s prison, indefinitely”.

“Were?” he asked after a brief pause.

“Yeah… I… kind of told them you couldn’t leave without me since you… are engaged to me” Sakura said, deep breaths between pauses, hands fidgeting at her lap.

When she realized there was no answer, she continued “I’m sorry it had to be this way, but I did what would be best…”

“Best for who?” he snarled quite irritated.

She paused and frowned with hurt.

“You may not notice now, but you’ll get to realize it soon enough. You need us, Sasuke-kun. And we need you”.

The thing that she had not realized, though, was that it was not that he hadn’t noticed it already, but rather the opposite. It was because he had noticed how he needed them that this decision was so terrible. He cared about them with a new perspective, one that told him that it was best for them to be safe by staying away from him.

They were too good for him, what else was new?

 

 


	2. The Arrangement

Despite his bindings and sealed chakra, his trained senses were as sharp as if he wasn’t imprisoned, so it was no surprise he could distinguish the presence of Kakashi entering his cell.

“I can’t believe you listened to her request” he muttered as soon as he was only a few inches away.

His former teacher smirked under his symbolic mask. Of course there would be no greetings with his most rebellious brat. However, he complied.

“It was hardly a request, Sasuke. It was a threat”.

When the gray haired man heard no response, he continued.

“It is no secret the village is in a delicate situation, we’ve had many loses during this war and we can’t afford to have more. Sakura, completely aware of both the village’s need and her own role in keeping the numbers at bay, has come to this resolution to help you”.

Sasuke tsked “Strange concept of help, being imprisoned, that is”.

Kakashi took a deep breath and leaned to rest on his left foot, arms folding. “So are you telling me you have a better place to be?”

He wanted to say that anywhere far away from them, from their warmth and blinding light, but where exactly would that be? He tried once, he knew now there was no escape from their great influence.

When all he heard was silence, Kakashi nodded.

“Then give it a try, Sasuke. You have nothing to lose, and a lot to gain; a home, for starters”.

Three days after his conversation with Kakashi, the council decided to listen to Sakura’s petition. Just as her smart teammate had planned, her weird ways to use her position in his favor had worked.

Weirder than her request being listened to, was the fact that Kakashi seemed aware of the white lie her teammate had told, and that despite it, he had played along in telling the rest of the council that indeed, there was a relationship going on between them.

He had yet to know how to react before this declaration. Of course, he had apologized for hurting his teammate, and he would be blatantly lying to tell he held no care for her, but anything further than that seemed too precocious.

The ending result of it all lead to a displeased and reluctant Sasuke being forced to live under the same roof as her teammate. Apparently, it was either her or being monitored continuously by more Anbus in god knows what prison at Snow Village. And for what he could tell from his conversation with their new Hokage, was that Sakura was pretty much busy taking long shifts at the hospital.

If that was the way it was going to be, then he figured he would not have much to complain.

On the other hand though, there was not much left of the confident kunoichi who dared defy the council’s sentence. As she took a break from her shift, she met with her blonde best friend, who had happened to hear the news.

“Are you really going to be okay with this?”

“What do you mean ‘okay with this’?”

“I mean the whole living in the same roof as your eternal one sided love and stuff”

“I- I just can’t bear the idea of losing him again, after all these years both Naruto and I have struggled to have him back home…” Sakura quickly denied with her head as she declared “There are more important things to care about at the moment that whatever romantic feelings I hold for him”.

“But it is one of the reasons you’ve gone this far, isn’t it?”

She lifted her gaze from her glass with disbelief.

“This is not about whatever ideas you’re thinking, Ino. It’s about making him feel home; you’ve got it all wrong”.

Was it entirely true? An insider voice pointed out, which she quickly pushed away. So okay, she might not be certain of what to expect from this arrangement, but there was no denying that right now all she needed was to keep Sasuke with them. The reason as to why she had gone this far could be figured out later.

The long haired girl, who had been leaning forward to talk in secrecy with her friend, suddenly slumped back to her seat and eyed her friend again. She wondered how much she could believe her words without falling into her own lie.

To Ino, it was clear as water that the one not knowing what was going on was the medic nin before her; that this arrangement could not only put their relationship with the former avenger in danger, but also her own heart.

Even so, being her best friend for so long had taught Ino that this was just Sakura’s nature. Being the giver of everything she had; and when it concerned her eternal love, there was only so little she would not give. Not that it made her any more in favor of her decisions, but now that the deed was done, the only thing she could offer her now was her support.

“And where would you end up staying then?” she finally asked after the long pause and as a response, her dear friend offered her a thankful smile.

Ino silently hoped she could get to keep smiling like that in the future.

Turns out they were going to be living in a department near the border east; Far from the entrance to the Village and near to the training fields, when she arrived to see if it needed any final fixes, she noticed that indeed, it was far too small and messy to be properly habituated.

Figures, she huffed, this is how they’ll treat a former enemy.

So the rules had stayed this way, as she was informed in their earlier meeting with Kakashi: They were going to leave from here on in this place, getting monthly supervision in which they’ll have to answer personal questions about their cohabitation to validate their supposedly engagement, they were not allowed to object, else it would immediately be concluded as treason—

—which would be bad news for now not only Sasuke, but her as well.

She had tried to convince herself that this was a really big deal and she should be concerned, but compared to the part that couldn’t bring to care, it was just a little side of her that worried and she had yet to figure out why it was that way.

Sakura was kneeled finishing setting the tea table at their little living room when she sensed his arrival, along with him, the escort of two Anbus. She glanced at the closed door with wariness.

Once it sprung open, she fixed her gesture to a welcoming smile.

“I see you’re finally here. Welcome”.

It was hard to tell to whom the greeting was being directed, so they only nodded, and right after, the escorts puffed away in a cloud of smoke.

She sighed and rested on her arms behind her, in the meantime, Sasuke noticed the tidied place, properly equipped for both of them. The sight of her putting order in this tattered place put his prior opinion into perspective. This was not the kind of place someone like Sakura belonged to, and thanks to her reckless request she now had to live alongside with an ex criminal like him because she was so stubborn that she’d rather live in a shithole than her own warm home.

He stared at her with harshness as he spoke:

“You didn’t have to do this”.

Thinking he referred to the well-furnished place, she got up and brushed her lap.

“It’s no big deal, I just thought you might need the essentials, I already set them on the room if you’d like to—”she was shortly cut, however.

“—I meant the sentence, Sakura. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking about—”she was about to explain, but was quickly interrupted once again. She rose on her feet to meet his eye level.

“This is not a child’s game. End this now that there’s still time” his eyes were harsh, but it was his words that stung her and made her snap.

“What? No! I’m not going to give up on us” As soon as she realized the phrasing she used, she blinked and quickly continued “. Our team is finally together and if you’re so afraid of anything happening to us then you might as well do your part!”

“My part is to tell you this is beyond nuts, because clearly this is going to end bad for you”.

“Why are you so worried about what could happen to me?” this time, it was Sakura standing before him with crossed arms, her eyes staring with curiosity into his.

He meant to say something but quickly shut himself, and before she could register his quick reaction, he left the room with long strides and stepped into the one he assumed would be his, slamming the door behind him. Then there was only Sakura, standing there with her arms still folded, but her face also in full concentration.

She was left to wonder what that flash on Sasuke's eyes would mean.


	3. Second Thoughts

He soon found out he had made a mistake. He had been close to openly admit his feelings for his teammate, about to let her know that he actually cared and that he would rather be deprived of their presence than watching them struggle as they look after him.

He had entered the only room in their tiny department, he could tell now that he was behind the closed door because of all the things that were scattered on the floor like boxes and bags. He could deal with messy; what he couldn’t deal with though was the clear futon folded in the right corner of the room; as in, singular.

He let out a loud sigh; of course they would give them only one mattress, since they were pretending to be something they clearly weren’t.

It didn’t make it any less difficult to face. The idea alone of sharing the same space as Sakura shouldn’t put him off, but it seemed to do so either way. Perhaps it had something to do with their recent argument, perhaps with the fact it had been far too long since the last time he had shared the same resting space than the kunoichi.

Either way, what was he angry about anyway?

She was a capable and grown woman who knew to make decisions on her own, she needn’t him to remind what she was putting in danger, the girl was all but aware of that already. And he had also declared his surrender to both of them, had apologized and even came back home accepting whatever destiny it meant for him.

Well, this seemed to be his sentence; there was no turning back from that now. He was already here in the same space as her, sharing whatever shabby things they were given to survive.

However, being the prideful prick he was aware of being, he refused to give in that easily and so quickly. He groaned and lumped until he was sitting on the room’s floor, his thoughts still wandering close to the reasons of his annoyance, but when he least expected it, he had ran fast asleep.

In the meantime, Sakura wondered what else could she do at the moment, but just as she was told earlier that day, she was dismissed from her duties at the hospital for today, given the sole assignment to get Sasuke installed in their new ‘cohabitation place’; so by the time she made some miso soup for dinner, and had tidied up everything at her reach, she realized the only place left to check was their dorm room—which, at the moment, was occupied by a really pissed Uchiha.

She let out a deep exhale as she directed a glance to the small clock now hanged on their living room. It had been almost three hours now, and even though the elephant she had felt the first minutes had vanished, she was still unsure of what else could she do to kill time or avoid the obvious confrontation. She bit her lower lip, hands holding a bowl waiting to be served next to the one she had already prepared.

Days ago, the medic could have sworn things were okay between her and her former teammate to the point of manage having an occasional conversation, but now, after the events occurred, she was uncertain of how to proceed this matter.

The knock at her door pulled her out of her thoughts; blinking twice she realized just who was behind the closed door.

“Naruto” she said, half-surprised-half-relieved as she opened the entrance to greet him.

“Hey, Sakura-chan! How’s everything going?” he greeted back, wide smile on his face and Sakura swore she felt her back muscles softening up.

“Have a look for yourself” she replied between her teeth.

“What? It can’t be that bad…” his steps leaded him to the living room, all set and neat… and missing, when he noticed this, he turned on his feet and faced his beloved friend “Where’s the bastard?”.

Having no energy to reply, she pointed with her head the direction towards the closed room.

“That’s so rude! That’s no way to spent your first day out of prison” he exclaimed, and Sakura had to sigh loudly at his lack of tack towards the matter.

“Took you too long to barge in, dobe” a third voice spoke, making both of them turn to meet with the emerging Sasuke finally coming out of the room. Hair disheveled and clothes ruffled, Sakura realized then the reason of his long silence: he had fallen asleep.

“I decided to come and celebrate with you guys. When were you going to tell me the big news?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your relationship, obviously!”

So he had bought it after all. There was a brief pause in which both Sasuke and Sakura exchanged knowing glances and then turned back to their teammate and friend, agreeing in their short trade that the best for both would be to let their best friend be unaware of the truth.

Sakura smiled awkwardly while Sasuke scrubbed the back of his head, messing his already wild bed hair.

“Ah, that!” the girl giggled guiltily, not knowing how to proceed; once again caught between making the move or waiting for Sasuke to make his.

“Yeah, that! I thought I was your best friend! Now you need to celebrate with me, let’s go to Ichiraku’s”.

He merely grunted, mumbling something under his breath about Naruto being an idiot.

“Sasuke-kun is not authorized to leave the house just yet, Naruto” she clarified. Had that been a choice, he would have left the place instead of locking himself and sulk in the room next door.

Being that a situation she would not like to presence again and be awkwardly avoiding each other, Sakura came up with a new idea:

“I made some ramen, though, if you’d like some”.

At the sight of Naruto’s cerulean eyes lightening up, she knew she had caught him. Sasuke, however, tried to suppress the chuckle that was about to leave his mouth. The moron just was that easy to please.

“I never really heard how you managed to visit him often enough even though we were told he wasn’t allowed to see anyone…” Naruto wondered, once they had taken their seats, and chopsticks already expectant for the ramen.

“I told them his injuries needed to be checked or else he might die before a sentence could be made” she answered unaffected as she placed the bowl in front of her boys.

“So you even lied to the council about it?” his blue expressive eyes widened before leaning back with a foxy grin “Man! But what am I saying, if I also happened to witness your perfect acting!” at his last comment though, Sakura stiffened.

“Naruto!” she needn’t to ask what he was referring to, she already knew, and she was willing to do what was necessary to shut him up, had Sasuke not been present to witness his murder.

“Acting?” for someone who didn’t like to meddle, Sasuke’s curious voice came to sound, much to Sakura’s distress and Naruto’s excitement for gossip.

She resumed her meal with irritancy; cursing she had not foreseen the blond’s idiotic mouth and getting some potent sleep inducing pill into his meal.

“Yeah, once she claimed to be in love with me and I almost bought it… that was about the same time we met at Iron”.

“To be fair, I wasn’t aware it was a lie either, only after I… well, I couldn’t do it” she snapped ready to defend herself, but her resolve weakening when she remembered the events afterwards.

Then there was an awkward silence floating in the air, each of the individuals caught in their own train of thoughts.

“How nice! Even to this day that you’re finally together you get to have the same feelings as years ago” as he said what he thought would lighten the mood, he stretched.

She leaned forward to Naruto, scandalized and embarrassed that he had voiced it out like if he was talking about the weather. She refused to acknowledge the warmth spread across her cheeks and neck, all too visible to the boy sitting between her and the naive blond. “Sh-Shut up! I don’t want to hear you talking like you don’t have Hinata waiting for you to ask her out!”

“Sakura-chan! That’s not fair, I’ve been busy! Dattebayo!” he excused himself, a faint blush now visible on his tanned skin.

“And what makes you think she isn’t? Being the heiress of one of the most important clans it’s not an easy job either. You might as well make a move soon or she might get stolen away” she tsked irritated over his lame excuses.

“So mean!”

Payback, she thought as she chomped her freshly cooked miso ramen, ignoring the blond’s complaints and ignoring the faint blush that still lingered on her cheeks at the feel of Sasuke’s stare over her.

“You just threatened the dobe” Sasuke accused once they were alone, nonchalantly setting the dishes aside.

It took her a minute to realize he was starting conversation, taken aback from the sound of his voice interrupting the quiet space, she proceeded to argue back “I just stated a fact I’ve come to notice, lately it’s been like everyone’s biological clock started tickling and they’re all in a rush to find a suitable partner, a remarkable one at that”.

“So that’s why you decided to get you off the market?”

“Wha- That’s not why I did what I did!” she defended, her blush returning with force.

“I know” he replied without missing a beat, and to her utter surprise, she noticed him openly smirk at her direction, clearly making fun of her. She averted her gaze immediately.

“Hmm” was all she could mutter.

She frowned, wondering if he was still begrudged with the arrangement, and if there was anything she could do to make him less apathetic with the situation. She bit her lower lip in deep concentration, not noticing he had caught sight of her dejected expression.

He refrained from doing any annoying attempt to cheer her up. Clearly he wasn’t the best at task to do it, and he had just found out there were several bachelors looking for a mate to pair with, desperately looking for a good catch like the apprentice of the former Hokage, and heroine medic ninja from the Fourth Shinobi War could be.

He grunted in annoyance as he rose back on his feet and headed towards the kitchen with the empty dishes.

Sakura was clearly no Trophy Wife material, and as he caught size of the yin seal hiding behind her grown bangs, he remembered just who decided to make this arrangement, he hid his faint smirk.

Yes, that was more like Sakura. To be the one working to get what she wanted, being reckless and passionate about it. And he had yet to figure out if that made him lucky or unfortunate; being bound to her forcibly still had a weight to consider…

Either way, as he looked at the girl that was now his roommate tidy up the mess Naruto had left behind, the girl who had fought alongside by him during the war and still managed to adore him in her most devoted way, he let the thought of giving up to her reckless decisions linger a little longer for once.

Somehow, it amazed him how she managed to put his thoughts into perspective.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! It made me so glad to see people interested in the update of this story! please let me know what are your thoughts so far!! Happy SSMonth2017~
> 
> Side Note: I would like to know if there’s anyone interested in beta-ing this story. I should let you know my first language is not english, so there are times where tenses or prepositions don’t ring right to me… a little help would be nice.
> 
> Friendly reminder to go check out my tumblr sideblog: writtenjoys.tumblr.com <3 Besos!


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